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Portrait of Sam Altman speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2019.

Sam Altman

Co-founder and CEO of OpenAI; former president of Y Combinator. The defining figure of the AI era — and the subject of a recurring question about whether the trust he commands is always earned.

OpenAI · Artificial intelligence · est. 2015

Born in 1985 and raised in St. Louis. Dropped out of Stanford in 2005 to start Loopt (sold to Green Dot in 2012). Joined Y Combinator in 2011 and was its president from 2014 to 2019. Co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and became CEO in 2019, building the capped-profit structure that funded ChatGPT and the modern AI boom. Fired and reinstated by OpenAI’s board over five days in November 2023. Also co-founded Worldcoin (2019).

Notable achievements

  • Co-founded OpenAI (2015) and led it as CEO from 2019 through the ChatGPT era.
  • Built the capped-profit structure that raised the billions frontier AI requires.
  • President of Y Combinator (2014–2019), the best-connected node in the startup ecosystem.
  • Founded Loopt (2005, first YC batch); sold to Green Dot in 2012 for ~$43.4M.
  • Co-founded Worldcoin (2019).

Find them online

X (@sama)OpenAI

Stories about Sam Altman

Portrait of Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, subject of a case study on trust and power in AI.
tech7 min read

Sam Altman: The Operator of Trust

Sam Altman’s gift isn’t a product; it’s an extraordinary ability to accumulate trust, capital, and leverage faster than anyone alive — and the recurring question of whether the trust is always earned. A sourced, critically neutral case study including the 2023 board ouster, the conflict-of-interest pattern, and the allegation he denies.

Sam Altman